Machine for coating paper



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1:'. M. COSSITT. MAGHIINBFUR OOAI'ING `PAPER, &o. N0. 510,564. PatentedDeG. 12, 1893.

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P. 11. CossITT. MACHINE POR COATING PAPER, &c.

No. 510,564. Patented 1100.12, 1893.

WITNESSES:

NTTnD STATES trice.

PATENT FRANKLIN M. OOSSITT, OF BLOOMFIELD, ASSIGNOR TO FREDERICK A. ANTHONY, OF HACKENSAOK, NEV JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR COATING PAPER, 89C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,564, dated December 12, 1893.

Application filed March l0, 1893.

To all whom, t may concern.

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN M. Cossirr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident. of Bloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Coating Paper, zc., of which the follow# ing is a specification.

My invention more particularly described relates to improvements in machines or apparatus for coating paper, cloth or equivalent fabric, with a layer or film ofl material in plastic, semi-duid or'iluid condition.

My apparatus is well adapted to the manufacture of wall papers, certain varieties of building felts or papers, photographic silver emulsion paper or films and the like manufactures.

A special feature of my improved apparatus is a device for removing wrinkles occasioned by the swelling of the paper, consequent upon the application of the moist or wet coating to it, which device is located, preferably at least, quite near the submerging roller by the operation of which, the paper or other fabric is coated with the material. Another feature is, a peculiar form of feed roller whereby the fabric is fed, or in other words, drawn through the machine by contact against one side of it only.

There are other features of my improved apparatus which will be pointed out during the description thereof.

It is to be understood that in the manufacture of the products above referred to, the surfacing or coating material is, under my invention, applied to one surface only of the fabric, and that it is essential in vorder that the resulting products maybe of a high class that the material be applied evenly, smoothly and of a uniform thickness, and that no wrinkles appeal' in the completed goods; also that the coated surface'should be kept from contact with anything liable to injure it because the nature of the surfacing or coal-ing material is such in many instances, that contact with it will deface the product. My apparatus is therefore so constructed and operated that no part of the apparatus comes in contact with the coated surface during the entire operation of coating, transferring and Serial No. 465.413. (No model.)

drying, nor is it necessary to touch or otherwise manipulate the fabric.

When my apparatus is used for they manufacture of photographic films it is necessary, as is Well understood, that the coating and drying operations be carried on in a room free from actinic light, and in the manufacture of these goods my invention is specially applicable because owing to the comparative darkness of such rooms or chambers irregularities in the application of the sensitive emulsion or wrinkles in the fabric (ordinarily paper) are not apt to be observed. Consequently the features of my apparatus which automatically remove the wrinkles and secure uniform application of the emulsion are especially valuable.

It has been found by experience thatpaper and like fabrics may be coated evenly by passing the saine through an emulsion of greater 0r less density, contained in a trough, the paper passing under and in close contact with a roller revolving in the emulsion, but when paper particularly is subjected to this operation it expands upon the penetration of the moisture, and becomes wrinkled, and the wrinkles so formed cause the emulsion to lie unevenly upon the paper as the wrinkles form gutters into which the emulsion flows or settles as the paper emerges from the trough, and unless these wrinkles are smoothed out Very soon after the emulsion has been applied to the paper it begins to set, especially upon the portions of the paper where the emulsion is thinnest, and the result is apt to be an imperfect product. If on the other handv the paper or other fabric be kept flat and smooth for a time immediately following the application of the emulsion, then it will flow and adjust itself evenly and smoothly over the entire surface of the paper and become partially set so that thereafter slight uneveuness or wavy contour of the face of the fabric oi` paper will not injuriouslyalfect the product. It is desirable therefore if not essential for the production` of high class products, that the tendency of the fabric to expand, and the consequent formation of wrinkles shall be counteracted and a uniform, smooth surface maintained in the fabric for a time at least after the application of the emulsion or surfacing material to it. By my invention I not only remove the wrinkles which may form in the paper, but I also largely reduce the formation of wrinkles which would be formed by any other means of coating known to me.

It is also desirable in the manufacture of the goods above referred to, to feed the same through the machine by operation of a single feeding or pulling apparatus which as above stated, should come in contact with the un` coated side only of the fabric, because if more than one positively feeding device is employed it will frequently happen that the paper or otherfabric will not expand equally at all parts; on the contrary one edge of the paper may, and frequently does, expand slightly more than the other side, and in this way, if there are two feeding or traction devices, the second one can not invariably co-act with uniformity with the first one, and the result may be either a tearing of the edges of the fabric or an unequal pull upon them so that diagonally extending wrinkles or gutters are formed in the fabric, and if these are produced soon after the coating material has been applied the objectionable results heretofore referred to follow. In my invention I use but a single positively driven feeding mechanism; consequently I avoid this defect.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a longitudinal vertical section of one form of my apparatus on the line X, X, of Fig. 2. Fig.2 illustrates a front elevation on the line y, y of Fig. 1.

` E represents a roll of the fabric to be coated. It is supported upon a shaft or roller a which revolves in suitable journals b which are supported upon brackets c which are fastened, one at each end of the shaft, to one of the uprights I of the frame of the machine.

B :is a pau or tank which contains the coating material. It may be of any desired kind depending upon the product desired. If, however, the apparatus is to be used for the manufacture of photographic films or paper then the pan or tank B should be plated with silver or made of glass so as to prevent any chemical reactions in the emulsion itself which might be the case, if other metallic surface were subjected to the action of the emulsion.

The pan or tank B, as supported in a suitable boX J, which is provided at or near its lower part with a steam coil d', whereby the water within the box can be heated to the desired temperature so that the surfacing material in the pan B may be kept at a uniform degree of liquidity and temperature. This heating device may be substituted by any other suitable means for heating the surfacing material, and it will not be necessary at i all times to employ any such devices nor to pan or trough which contains the surfacing material may be placed and heated.

The box J is supported upon a table or shelf c', which has at its two ends downwardly extending flanges f', each of which is slotted as at g and bolts h', h pass through these slots being rigidly supported in any suitable part of the frame.

t', z" are twqlinks one at each side of the machine which are pivoted at their upper ends to the flanges f', and at their lower ends engage with a framej, which comprises two side pieces pivoted at their rear ends as at 7c to two brackets Z one at each side of the machine, and a cross-bar shown best in Fig. 2. The brackets Z are rigidly supported upon the frame I. m isaleveror handle fastened about centrally, to the cross-bar j of the said frame, and it passes between two curved bars 'n' which serve as an adjustable rack, they being provided with holes p through which a pin q passes, whereby the lever m and consequently the frame j', links t" and the superposed devices, including the box J and tank B can be adjusted up or down as desired. is a guide roller supported upon brackets r upon each side of the machine.

C is the coating roller. It is supported upon journals s fastened to the frame I.

II is a metallic plate supported upon the frame I, by means of arms t one at each end of the plate. This plate is slightly curved or rounded transversely of the machine, so that its central portion midway of the machine has greater forward projection than its ends have. It has also preferably but not necessary a slightly rounded contour in vertical plane; this plate extends from side to side of the machine and its outer surface is perfectlysmooth, and it is located,preferably at least, quite close to the coating roller C, so that the paper comes in contact with it almost immediately after the application of the emulsion or other surfacing material to it. Thus the fabric is subjected to the restraining influence of this plate, and the formation of wrinkles in the paper or other fabric is prevented, and such as may form are smoothed or ironed out again almost immediately' after their appearance.

The fabric is therefore maintained in a per` fectly smooth condition, or practically so, for a time immediately following the application of the surfacing material to it, and in order that the above described results may be more perfectly secured, I prefer that this plate II should be from afoot to three feet in length, i. e., in direction of movement of the fabric. The advantages above stated will, however, be partially secured by a plate having less dimensions.

lA is a drum preferably about two feet in diametermore or less. It is mounted ouashaft u' supported on journals e', which are fastened to the frame I; on one end of the shaft 'u' is keyed a pulley w', and outside of that another pulley The drum A is covered with a sheet of corrugated india rubber,which IOO IIO

IIS

has been but partially vulcanized so that rit is soft, yielding and clinging when in contact with the fabric as hereinafter stated, andthe outer surface of this sheet of rubber is corrugated or pitted, the corrugations being preferably about one eighth of an inch apart, and about one eighth of an inch deep.

G illustrates a suitable hang up frame for drying the paper or other fabric. Any suitable drying fraine maybe used, there being various well known forms thereof, all that is essential being that the frame shall autom atically take up the coated fabric as the feed rollerA delivers the same to it. In order, however that the drawings may be more easily understood, I will say that a2, is the usual traveling belt, there being one on each side of the machine, which pass over rollers b2, b2 and are provided with the usual bar supporters and carriers.

c2, cdgare the bars. They take up the pendent slack of the fabric in the usual manner and support the same in pendent loops as shown at the right of the machine.

The apparatus is driven by the main belt A', seeFig. 2, and the take up and drying mechanism is actuated by pulleys, shafts and belting as shown, no special description thereof being necessary.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The roll of fabric E being placed in the machine as stated, the free end of it is brought up over the guide roller a, thence down under the coating roller C, thence up and over the curved plate H, thence over the rubber covered drum A and is thence pulled down a sufficient distance to properly engage with the first bar cl2 in the take up mechanism.

In starting the operation, the paper is pulled by hand through the machine until the weight of the paper on the delivery side of the drum A, will cause that drum when rotated to pull the paper from the roller E through the coating, and over the smoothing devices, after which the machine will operate continuously and automatically, care being taken to keep a proper supply of surfacing material in the pan B. The rubber coating of the drum Aexerts a pull upon the dampened paper suiicient to pull it from the roll E and through the apparatus as described, because of the extended area of the surface of the drum in contact with the fabric. The fabric is not confined upon the surface of the drum A; consequently it adjusts itself to any and all unequal strains by movement over the face of the drum. Thus rupture of the fabric is avoided, also the air from the room in which the apparatus is placed has free circulation through the corrugations in the surface of the rubber, especiallyif they be made in the form of transverse ribs, which form I prefer, so that the uncoated side of the fabric is acted upon at all timesfby the atmosphere, thus the drying of the coating is expedited and any tendency to unequal shrinkage or expansion of the fabric on the drum is counteracted. Vertical adjustment of the pan is also desirable, to compensate for the gradual subsidence of the coating material as it is used up.

If desired any of the well known forms of friction device may be applied to the shaft a of the roller E, whereby the rotation of that roll may be controlled, and the proper tension of the fabric maintained.

The devices for elevating or depressing the pan B are very useful because it sometimes happens that it is necessary to suspend the operation of the machine, and then i t 1s desirable to entirely remove the fabric from contact with the surfacing material so as'to avoid over-saturation which might result inj uriously. Consequently at such times the pan B is dropped, and then the surplus surfacing material on the portion of the fabric which happens to be immediately beneath the coating roller may be wiped off with a cloth or otherwise. A

It will be noticed that the smoothing plate H has somewhat greater forward. projection than the coating roller C or the drum A, so that the fabric will be subjected to a slight strain by reason of its deflection from a right line in its passage over the upper and lower edges of the plate H. I prefer this construction, but it is not always necessary that these edges of the smoothing plate should have such forward projection, because the forward projection of the most convex parts of the plate will in some instances answer the purpose.

As above stated the apparatus illustrated in the drawings is one plan only upon which the machine may be constructed. It will be obvious to those who are skilled in this art, that many modifications may be made in the details of construction and yet the essential features of my invention be availed of.

I claiml. The combinationin a coating apparatus of a coating roller revolving in the coating material, a smoothing plate, adjacent to the coating roller and a positively driven drum, the surface whereof is covered with rubber or like material, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination in a coating apparatus of a coating roller revolving in the coating material, a smoothing plate adjacent to the coating roller, a feeding drum, the surface whereof is covered with rubber, the said smoothing plate having a greater forward projection than a line drawn from the most forward part of the coating roller, and drum, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination in a coating apparatus, of a coating roller which revolves in the coating material, a postivelydriven feeding drum, the surface whereof is covered with corrugated or roughened rubber or like material; anda convex smoothing plate located between the coating roller and the drum, and having ogreater forward projection than their most forward parts, substantially as set forth.

4.. The combination in a coating apparatus IOO IZO

of a coating roller, which revolves in the coating material,apositivelydriven feeding drum, the surface whereof is covered with corrugated or rougliened rubber or like material, a con vex smoothing plate1 located between the coating roller and the drum, a portion of which has greater forward projection than their most forward parts, and automatic take-up meehanism on the delivery side of the drum, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination in aeoatingr apparatus of a guide roll, a coating roller which revolves in the coating` material, a vertically adjustable tank for holding the coating material, a

positively driven drum, the surface whereof is covered with rubber or like material, a smoothing plate, having a convex surface l0- cated between the coating roller and the drum, and automatic take-np mechanism on the delivery side of the drum, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 9th day of March, A, D. 1893.

FRANKLIN M. COSSIT'I.

\Vit1iesses:

PERGY THoRPE, HENRY OPDvKE. 

